Lafourche Parish gets new community services director

Published: Friday, May 2, 2014 at 9:02 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 2, 2014 at 9:02 p.m.

The monitor in Reggie Bagala’s office is a live feed to a bald eagle’s nest in Georgia. The camera, which is set up by Berry College in Mt. Berry, Ga., has been focused on the eagle’s nest to monitor the growth of the bird’s baby.

The 48-year-old Galliano native has been watching the growth of the baby for about three months. Asked about the cam, Bagala’s face lights up, and he immediately begins to talk about how much the baby has grown since he first saw the feed.

“Every now and then the little one will stretch his wings out. Pretty soon it looks like he’ll be ready to take off,” he said.

Bagala plans to bring that same excitement to his new, $49,000-a-year position as community services director of Lafourche Parish. He started in early April.

Starting in politics early, Bagala hauled political yard signs when he was 10. While he was at LSU, he worked with Richard Baker, then a U.S. representative for the 6th District of Louisiana.

Graduating from LSU in 1989 with a degree in political science, he then put Louisiana in his rearview mirror and moved to Virginia to attend the American Campaign Academy, a 10-week campaign management school.

“From there I worked local campaigns across the country. Anywhere that I could find a place that would want me or find a campaign to work on, from Texas to South Carolina to Georgia, I ran campaigns,” he said.

Bagala was faced with a life decision in 1992 after his father unexpectedly died — whether he should continue his career on the campaign trail or return home and take over his father’s businesses, which he had little involvement with before.

After discussing the situation with his wife, he chose the latter, taking over Deborah’s Movie World and several car washes in south Lafourche.

“I don’t know where the best place is to raise a family, but this is the best alternative,” he said.

“It’s the culture. I block all of the other stuff out. I like the family thing. I like the friends thing. I have more non-blood relatives that I call aunt and uncle and people that are like your brother or sister. I still call the same people uncle and aunt from when I was 10. You go other places, and it’s not like that. It was a very easy thing to miss.”

The change was sudden and didn’t come without early struggles.

“Everything I did up to that point I wanted to do regarding politics, and all of the sudden I had to stop. I was working 18 to 20 hours each day, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.

He would eventually catch on and maintained the businesses for 20 years.

After closing the last of his businesses, he began looking for other work and had made calls to some of his old friends in Baton Rouge. That’s when he got a call from Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph.

“She contacted me, and we met a couple of times to make sure it was going to be a good fit. A fit for her, a fit for me, a fit for the taxpayers and a fit for the organization,” he said.

The Community Action umbrella was split following previous director Joni Tuck’s departure in December.

Bagala will oversee the Lafourche Parish Animal Shelter, parish recreation and the parish coroner’s office. The parish mainly serves as a medium for the coroner to gather resources, Bagala said, so his involvement with that department will be minimal.

His immediate focus is obtain grants, improve facilities and increase public outreach.

Bagala said he’s heard the criticism of the animal shelter and has made its future a priority but said he’s prepared for any challenges the job may bring.

“It’s my job. I have to do it. If there’s a challenge I’m going to hit it. My goal is to make everything better,” he said.

Bagala has visited the Terrebonne Animal Shelter and will visit the LSU Veterinary School and other parish shelters to get an understanding of how other shelters are being run and how to improve the local shelter.

“I’m on a learning curve. I spend a lot of time with (shelter manager Kelli Toups), but I’m playing catch up to where I’m learning everything that entails the operation of our shelter,” he said.

The parish’s recreation programs are already established as season staples. Bagala said his goal is to take what they’re doing and amplify the positive results.

“Recreation in this parish is already successful, with a lot of good programs. I just want to keep what they’re doing and make it better,” he said.

Bagala said he’s working on a long-term plan for both the shelter and recreation, with hopes that he’ll see his departments grow much like the baby eagle he’s been watching so closely.

“How can we take what’s going on and make it better? Everything can be better. If we’ve exhausted what we’re doing and flat-lining, let’s change it up and do something different. That’s what I’m going to do every day. I’m going to do everything in my power to take what they’re doing and make it better.”

Staff Writer Jacob Batte can be reached at 448-7635 or jacob.batte@dailycomet.com. Follow him on Twitter @ja_batte.

<p>The monitor in Reggie Bagala's office is a live feed to a bald eagle's nest in Georgia. The camera, which is set up by Berry College in Mt. Berry, Ga., has been focused on the eagle's nest to monitor the growth of the bird's baby. </p><p>The 48-year-old Galliano native has been watching the growth of the baby for about three months. Asked about the cam, Bagala's face lights up, and he immediately begins to talk about how much the baby has grown since he first saw the feed. </p><p>“Every now and then the little one will stretch his wings out. Pretty soon it looks like he'll be ready to take off,” he said. </p><p>Bagala plans to bring that same excitement to his new, $49,000-a-year position as community services director of Lafourche Parish. He started in early April. </p><p>Starting in politics early, Bagala hauled political yard signs when he was 10. While he was at LSU, he worked with Richard Baker, then a U.S. representative for the 6th District of Louisiana. </p><p>Graduating from LSU in 1989 with a degree in political science, he then put Louisiana in his rearview mirror and moved to Virginia to attend the American Campaign Academy, a 10-week campaign management school. </p><p>“From there I worked local campaigns across the country. Anywhere that I could find a place that would want me or find a campaign to work on, from Texas to South Carolina to Georgia, I ran campaigns,” he said. </p><p>Bagala was faced with a life decision in 1992 after his father unexpectedly died — whether he should continue his career on the campaign trail or return home and take over his father's businesses, which he had little involvement with before. </p><p>After discussing the situation with his wife, he chose the latter, taking over Deborah's Movie World and several car washes in south Lafourche. </p><p>“I don't know where the best place is to raise a family, but this is the best alternative,” he said. </p><p>“It's the culture. I block all of the other stuff out. I like the family thing. I like the friends thing. I have more non-blood relatives that I call aunt and uncle and people that are like your brother or sister. I still call the same people uncle and aunt from when I was 10. You go other places, and it's not like that. It was a very easy thing to miss.” </p><p>The change was sudden and didn't come without early struggles. </p><p>“Everything I did up to that point I wanted to do regarding politics, and all of the sudden I had to stop. I was working 18 to 20 hours each day, I didn't know what I was doing,” he said. </p><p>He would eventually catch on and maintained the businesses for 20 years. </p><p>After closing the last of his businesses, he began looking for other work and had made calls to some of his old friends in Baton Rouge. That's when he got a call from Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph. </p><p>“She contacted me, and we met a couple of times to make sure it was going to be a good fit. A fit for her, a fit for me, a fit for the taxpayers and a fit for the organization,” he said. </p><p>The Community Action umbrella was split following previous director Joni Tuck's departure in December.</p><p>Bagala will oversee the Lafourche Parish Animal Shelter, parish recreation and the parish coroner's office. The parish mainly serves as a medium for the coroner to gather resources, Bagala said, so his involvement with that department will be minimal.</p><p>His immediate focus is obtain grants, improve facilities and increase public outreach. </p><p>Bagala said he's heard the criticism of the animal shelter and has made its future a priority but said he's prepared for any challenges the job may bring. </p><p>“It's my job. I have to do it. If there's a challenge I'm going to hit it. My goal is to make everything better,” he said. </p><p>Bagala has visited the Terrebonne Animal Shelter and will visit the LSU Veterinary School and other parish shelters to get an understanding of how other shelters are being run and how to improve the local shelter. </p><p>“I'm on a learning curve. I spend a lot of time with (shelter manager Kelli Toups), but I'm playing catch up to where I'm learning everything that entails the operation of our shelter,” he said. </p><p>The parish's recreation programs are already established as season staples. Bagala said his goal is to take what they're doing and amplify the positive results. </p><p>“Recreation in this parish is already successful, with a lot of good programs. I just want to keep what they're doing and make it better,” he said. </p><p>Bagala said he's working on a long-term plan for both the shelter and recreation, with hopes that he'll see his departments grow much like the baby eagle he's been watching so closely.</p><p>“How can we take what's going on and make it better? Everything can be better. If we've exhausted what we're doing and flat-lining, let's change it up and do something different. That's what I'm going to do every day. I'm going to do everything in my power to take what they're doing and make it better.” </p><p>Staff Writer Jacob Batte can be reached at 448-7635 or jacob.batte@dailycomet.com. Follow him on Twitter @ja_batte.</p>